Aer Lingus to offer flights between MSP and Dublin, Ireland

Dublin is the largest city in Ireland and serves as the nation’s capital. Located on the nation’s east coast, Dublin is situated at the mouth of the River Liffey and is fronted on the south by the Wicklow Mountains. Steeped in history and boasting a metropolitan population of nearly 2 million people, Dublin is the epicenter of education, the arts, finance and industry in Ireland.

“Through our work with GREATER MSP and the MSP Regional Air Service Partnership, we learned that there is significant demand among Minnesota’s business community for direct air service to Ireland,” said Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) Executive Director and CEO Brian Ryks. “That information demonstrated to Aer Lingus officials that non-stop service between the two cities would be profitable for the airline.”

The MSP Regional Air Service Partnership (RASP) is a collaborative air service development initiative launched in 2017 by the MAC and GREATER MSP. The RASP helps identify air service needs of businesses in the region and supports MAC efforts to engage airlines that could potentially serve those markets. The RASP is chaired by Thomson Reuters Executive Vice President-Operations Rick King and former U.S. Bank Chief Executive Officer Richard Davis.

“The addition of Aer Lingus non-stop service to Dublin is another enhancement to the growing access and international reach available to businesses within our region. We are excited about this offering which supports our continued efforts to be a top competitor in today’s global economy,” stated Michael Langley, CEO of GREATER MSP.

Aer Lingus will operate the Dublin service daily using Boeing 757 aircraft.

Dublin is the second new international route for MSP announced this year. In June, Delta Air Lines announced service to Seoul, South Korea, slated to begin April 1, 2019.

With the addition of Dublin, MSP offers direct scheduled service to six European cities. The others are Amsterdam, Netherlands; Frankfurt, Germany; London, England; Paris, France; and Reykjavik, Iceland. MSP also has direct scheduled service to Tokyo, Japan and, in April 2019, Seoul, South Korea.

MSP set a new passenger record in 2017, with more than 38 million people traveling through the nation’s 16th busiest airport. The airport is Delta Air Lines’ second largest hub, and the home base of Sun Country Airlines. Since January 2016, 11 airlines have added 50 new routes at MSP. In both 2016 and 2017, MSP was named Best Airport in North America in its size category by Airports Council International, based on traveler feedback. The airport was also named Most Efficiently Managed Airport of its size in North America for the past two years by the Air Transport Research Society.

The Metropolitan Airports Commission is a public corporation of the state of Minnesota. The MAC owns and operates seven airports in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, including Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. All together MAC airports generate nearly $17 billion a year for the area economy and support more than 87,000 jobs. The MAC is funded through rents and user fees generated from airport users, not from income or property taxes.

GREATER MSP is a private-public partnership with the mission to accelerate job growth and capital investment in the Greater MSP Region. It partners with economic development organizations throughout the region to develop strategy, brand and market the region, and serve as coordinator for business retention, expansion, and recruitment projects.